Lady Luck| Finan The Agile| The Last Kingdom

TWELVE

☼

"I truly believed that I would be sending you off, Cissa," Aethelflaed mumbled softly, holding tightly onto my hand.

I lay in my own quarters, back in Aegelesburg, my fever now broken and my body slowly but surely recovering from the dreaded sickness. I smiled up at Aethelflaed weakly, "I was having a wonderful dream... but with how hard Aldhelm dropped me, it was hard to stay asleep."

"And I am glad I dropped you," Aldhelm, who stood behind Aethelflaed, quipped, smiling softly. "For if I had not, you would be resting beside Aethelred right now."

"You mean restless beside Aethelred," I muttered, shaking my head slightly, "God, I could not think of a worse fate."

"You fear death less than you fear being buried beside my late husband?" Aethelflaed snorted quietly, patting my hand, "That is how I know you will be on your feet by the end of the week."

"And not a moment too soon," Aldhelm mused, "what with the fact that our Lady Cissa has now been asleep for a week."

"When you are on the line between life and death," I croaked before clearing my throat and continuing, "you can complain."

"I did not realise I needed your permission to complain," Aldhelm rolled his eyes.

"Well, you do," I sniffled, huffing softly as I dug my elbows into my mattress and pushed myself up to sit against my headboard.

"You two can not go without bickering, can you?" Aethelflaed sighed, shaking her head.

"I fear if I stopped bickering with him, I would succumb to my sickness," I smiled thinly.

"Do not jest over such things," Aethelflaed scolded me easily, her hand patting my shoulder, "you gave us the most terrible scare."

"It could not have been that bad," I mumbled, raising my hand to my thick, locks of hair that had tangled together during my unconsciousness.

"Cissa," Aldhelm sniffed calmly, "you died."

I accidentally pulled my fingers through some knots, wincing sharply, "What?"

"He is right," Aethelflaed reached up to dig my fingers out of my hair before she brought my hand down into her lap. "You succumbed to the sickness at the gate. You... you just went still, your face peaceful and... you left us."

I did not remember any of that, but there was no reason for her to make it up. In fact, I remembered little of anything after arriving in Wulfrunetun.

"I admit..." Aldhelm scrunched up his face in mock distaste, "I was so concerned, I lost myself for a moment and fell from my horse."

I remembered that, though, if only because of the bump on the size of a small boulder on my hip.

"The fall saved your life," Aethelflaed pat the top of my hand, "I do not understand how, but you fell on your front and somehow it... it woke you."

"Well, aren't I just the luckiest woman alive?" I snorted softly, raising my free hand to my chest and rubbing it slowly. "What of Aelfwynn?" I turned to meet her eyes again, "I regret to say I remember so little that I do not even know if she lived or died."

"She lives," Aethelflaed blurted instantly, shuffling closer to me, "she lives, and she has recovered miraculously. She was even playing in the garden with Aethelstan yesterday."

I let out a shaky sigh of relief, closing my eyes as I gripped the fabric of my nightdress over my chest for comfort. "Thank God and all his angels that kept her safe."